Skulduggery Pleasant: The Worst Is Yet To Come
by TheWriterPersonWhoWritesStuff
Summary: When an attack on a vampire hideout goes wrong they need to find the mastermind, Greffley, and take him down. Fletcher Renn gets captured and things get complicated. Can the heroes take down the villians, or will vampires take control of the Sanctuary?
1. Captured!

Author's Note: This is only my third story, so, y'know, go easy on me. And second thing, err, actually there is no second thing. So, yeah: just read it.

_**Skulduggery Pleasant: The Worst Is Yet To Come**_

**THE SANCTUARY**

**TUESDAY, 18****TH ****FEBRUARY 2011**

Valkyrie Cain was stubborn. She knew it. Her friends knew it. Even strangers knew it. But when she was asked to give up on a friend: that was just not acceptable.

"What do you mean I can't see her!?" screamed Valkyrie at the Sanctuary official. "She is pretty much a sister to me!"

"I'm sorry, Miss Cain, I really am, but Miss Tanith Low is too badly injured to be seen by _anyone_ right now," murmured the official, in that same boring tone as an impatient receptionist.

Valkyrie groaned and stamped her foot with force. She was about to shoot a wisp of fire at the official, when Fletcher appeared in front of her and whispered urgently in her ear.

"Ghastly's been recovered. We need to go," he said. When she still didn't respond, he added: "I promise I'll get you in to see Tanith, later."

"Promise?" asked Valkyrie.

"Promise," he said as he held out his hand.

Valkyrie took it and she heard a sudden whooshing sound. When she opened her eyes, they were standing in a darkened alleyway, where Skulduggery appeared to have been waiting.

"Glad to see you could make it here, Valkyrie," he said cheerfully.

"What are you smiling at? Tanith is in hospital, Ghastly has only just been recovered, I'm exhausted and Fletcher's still annoying!" said Valkyrie.

"Being exhausted is a small price to pay, when there is a country to save," stated Skulduggery. "As for Fletcher, all I can say is he has stupid hair."

"I'm right here, you know."

Skulduggery turned to him for the first time this evening. "Ah, my dear Mr Renn. Good job on teleporting. But you appear to have an albino hedgehog on your head. Might want to get that looked at. Anyway," he turned back to Valkyrie as Fletcher scowled at the back of Skulduggery's head, "the assault on Greffley's headquarters was not a complete disaster, Valkyrie."

"Really? I mean, we did almost lose Tanith, we _did_ lose Ghastly, as I said, I got tired and Fletcher was _this_ close" (she held up her forefinger and thumb and put them close together) "to being pulverised by that new beam-weapon-thing that Greffley had. What wasn't a disaster about it?"

The three of them turned a corner, as Skulduggery spoke again.

"Well, since you ask, Anton Shudder managed to extract fingerprints from all over the site. This means we now know the few bad-guys-that-must-be-stopped who escaped. Second, err, actually, there is no second. But, think of it this way, we've got Ghastly back!"

"You're such an optimist." She scowled, but stifled a laugh as she saw Skulduggery pretending to cry underneath his hat. They both shared a laugh, however, when Fletcher tripped over a loose paving slab.

"You know, I could decide to just not help you at all," exclaimed Fletcher.

"And I could just arrest you, but we both don't want that," Skulduggery replied. "I was only joking when I said all those mean things about you."

"Good," said Fletcher with a look of smugness on his face.

"Well, some of them I meant. That one about your hair being stupid, that one I definitely meant," remarked Skulduggery.

Valkyrie had been watching the conversation/argument take place, when she noticed a pair of hooded strangers following them out of the corner of her eye.

"Skulduggery," she whispered and nodded in the hooded people's direction.

Skulduggery understood, but kept walking. He didn't seem to care.

"_Skulduggery_," whispered Valkyrie with a bit more intent. "Skulduggery do you know them."

Skulduggery stopped and stared at her.

"My dear, Valkyrie. If I knew them, I would have gone up to them and said 'hello'."

"Why?"

"Because that's polite. Hang on, where's Fletcher?" He looked around only to find a hooded figure standing opposite them.

"My men have the Teleporter. If you know what's good for him, you will stop this foolish attempt at stopping my master's plan," said the figure.

He spoke with a soft, cold, but sinister voice. As he was up close to them now, Valkyrie could see the markings on his hands, face and neck. She could see the horrible scar running up from his wrist to shoulder on his left arm. And she could smell the rancid, rotten smell that left his mouth with every breath. She could tell this much: this is not a nice man.

"Xerok," murmured Skulduggery with anger present in his voice.

Xerok smiled and revealed black, pointy teeth. "You remember me."

Skulduggery nodded slowly.

Xerok smiled wider and started to chuckle. But as sudden as he started to chuckle, he was all business again. "So, if you know what's good for your Teleporter friend, you will stop meddling in my master's plan. You will hand over Mr Bespoke. And that, Miss Cain, is a lovely ring. I'll have that too."

"You are never having my Necromancy ring."

"And, unfortunately, we don't know what's good for Fletcher Renn, so, sorry old pal," said Skulduggery.

Skulduggery quickly rammed into Xerok and punched him across the face. Xerok showed no sign of hurt, or even discomfort, and returned with a roundhouse kick to Skulduggery's ribcage. Skulduggery howled in pain and splayed his hands. This caused wind to rush at Xerok at very fast speeds and send him flying backwards.

He cursed as he landed on his left arm, the one with the scar. Before he could get up, however, Skulduggery's bony fist was making contact with his neck. Xerok grabbed Skulduggery's wrist and threw Skulduggery to the ground. He cried out in pain, as Valkyrie joined the fight. She used the power in her ring to push a thousand shadows at Xerok. Xerok just smiled and disappeared and a blaze of smoke. Valkyrie was startled and was just about to run to Skulduggery, who still hadn't got up, when Xerok grabbed hold of her ankle and pulled her down. She grunted when she landed painfully on her shoulder. She heard a 'crack!' and felt a leathery coil whip across her face. She fell back, clutching her face in agony. It was at this point that Skulduggery decided to get back up again. He sent fireball after fireball at Xerok, who was eventually forced to vanish in another blaze of smoke. He reappeared at the other end of the street and shouted: "If you want your friend back, then be at the old Sanctuary building by the end of Friday!"

"What…the…hell?" said Valkyrie.


	2. Discussing Plans

Author's Note: There is not going to be a sequel for this story. Doesn't mean I won't write anymore Skulduggery Pleasant stories, though.

HIBERNIAN CINEMA

**TUESDAY, 18****TH**** FEBRUARY 2011**

Valkyrie was shaking her head, furiously. Her and Skulduggery had taken Ghastly to see Kenspeckle Grouse, and that's where they were now. Finally, if only to break the silence, Valkyrie asked the questions that had been bugging her ever since the fight with Xerok.

"What does Xerok mean when he said he wants us to meet him at the 'old Sanctuary building'? And how did he take Fletcher without us noticing?"

Skulduggery looked up from where he was sitting and started to hum. After a few, painful, minutes of humming, he decided to answer Valkyrie's question.

"Well, before the Sanctuary settled in the Waxworks Museum, it was in this deserted warehouse. If you pull on this rope, which was always there, a patch of floor would roll away, revealing this wooden staircase." He stopped for effect, or for Valkyrie to gasp or something. But none such things happened, so he continued, "That was the Sanctuary building at the time of 1846."

Valkyrie was thinking hard. Skulduggery could tell. He was a detective; he knew how to tell that people were thinking hard.

"I prefer the Waxworks," said Valkyrie after about 10 seconds of thought.

"So do I," nodded Skulduggery.

"And my second question?"

"Hmm? Yes, okay. Xerok is a Teleporter."

"But I thought all the Teleporters were killed, when the Diablerie opened that portal."

Skulduggery shook his head. "They only killed the ones they knew about. They didn't know about Xerok, because he was presumed killed."

"So, does that mean there are other Teleporters still alive?"

"Maybe." Skulduggery thought, then shook his head. "Actually, no. The Diablerie is very thorough, they only didn't know about Xerok, because he's a vampire. They keep to them –."

"Wait, he's a vampire?"

"Yes, I know. In fact, I was the one who told you."

"Which means his 'men' are actually vampires."

"Naturally."

Valkyrie was shocked. A vampire Teleporter. A _vampire_ Teleporter. And it had Fletcher.

"Skulduggery, they could have bitten him. He might be Infected."

"Ah. Then we have a problem."

"Another problem."

Skulduggery nodded.

**GREFFLEY'S HEADQUARTERS**

**WEDNESDAY, 19****TH**** FEBRUARY 2011**

_Fletcher awoke to the sound of many people scuffling about. He tried to sit up, but his legs and arms were bound. He tried to open his eyes. He could. 'At least _they_ weren't bound', he thought. He blinked twice and looked around. Fletcher thought he was in an underground cave of some sort. He noticed several broken pillars that seemed to glare down at him. An ugly head was mounted on the rocky wall. That kinda freaked him out a bit. What mostly freaked him out was the number of Infected he could see, all busy slaving away. Some were digging, some were mining, some were lifting rocks and some were acting as guards to the cave. A voice from behind him spoke. He recognised it as the guy who had kidnapped him from last evening._

"_He's awake, Master," said the voice. Then something happened which sent shivers down Fletcher's spine. The ground started to crack and burst open. A man wearing sunglasses and a casual suit bowed upon entering. He straightened his hat and saluted to Fletcher._

"_Hello, there, Fletch," said Billy-Ray Sanguine in a Texan accent._

"_Billy-Ray. So I see you got your powers back," replied Fletcher, with menace in his voice._

"_All 'anks to these here lunatics," he said smiling and tilting his head in the direction of the first voice. "Hi there, Xerok. How y'all doing?"_

"_Sanguine, we might not need you anymore." Xerok smirked as he saw Billy-Ray's smile falter. "We've got another Teleporter now. He's quite special. Don't worry, Sanguine; my Master will find something for you."_

_Xerok finally stepped in front of the helpless Fletcher. Xerok was quite a bit taller than Billy-Ray Sanguine and he towered over Fletcher, too._

"_Xerok, Sanguine, Mr Renn. I've got something to show you all." This voice seemed softer than the others, but with a dark edge to it. Xerok smiled and kicked the table Fletcher was lying on around to face the speaker._

_Fletcher was shocked and a actually laughed._

"_What's so funny, Mr Renn?" asked Greffley._

"_I expected you to be a bit…taller. I kinda pictured you with hair as well," sniggered Fletcher._

"_Sorry to disappoint, Mr Renn." Greffley didn't look sorry, at all. He didn't look angry, either. He looked emotionless. He was bald, around his early 20s, smelled of burnt meat and was quite short. He had a knife belt around his waist and he had a few burnt patches of flesh on his neck. His eyebrows were dark brown, bushy and had a weird tattoo going through each of them. He was wearing a plain blue shirt, with holes in and khaki pants/trousers. Fletcher stopped sniggering, when Xerok and Sanguine appeared by their Master's side. Xerok was not smiling and Billy-Ray kept putting his glasses on and off._

_Greffley spoke again. "It as come to my attention that you know the Sanctuary quite well, yes?" Fletcher didn't acknowledge that Greffley had spoke, but kept looking straight ahead. Greffley continued. "We need something that is ours. It is locked away in the Repository. We understand you've been there. We need _you_ to get it for us." Fletcher still didn't talk, but just shook his head. Greffley looked mock sad. He motioned to Xerok who walked towards Fletcher._

"_But we need you at your full strength."_

_Xerok leant down and bit Fletcher. Fletcher screamed that echoed of the cave, giving the impression that the whole cave was shrieking in agony. Billy-Ray smirked and walked off. Xerok disappeared in a wave of smoke. Greffley just stood there and laughed._

HIBERNIAN CINEMA

**WEDNESDAY, 19****TH**** FEBRUARY**

Skulduggery, Ghastly, Valkyrie, Kenspeckle, China and Guild were gathered around a wooden table. They were discussing ideas on how to penetrate Greffley's castle.

"Ghastly could get us in, but how do we get out?"

"No, no; far too risky. We've already lost Tanith."

"Why don't we just put one of us in?"

"What, and expect one of us to defeat an entire army of Infected and possibly Xerok and Greffley? No, Valkyrie."

"We could blow up one wall of the castle and enter through a different entrance."

"That could work, but then whoever blows up the first wall will face an entire horde of Infected."

"And/or zombies."

"Precisely, Skulduggery."

"We could, perhaps, call on the help of the Necromancers."

"Humph. What have they ever done to help us?"

"Well, they gave me my ring, didn't they?"

"You guys are all wrong," shouted China. "I know the perfect way to get in _and_ out."

Everyone leaned in closer, as China began explaining her plan. When she had finished, Ghastly exclaimed: "That's not entirely trustworthy."

"But it might work, if you take a few of Kenspeckle's science-y bombs," said Valkyrie.

Kenspeckle frowned. "Those are only prototypes; I would have to have many more. They might not work and, besides, -."

"Oh, stop babbling, Kenspeckle, and give us those bombs," sighed Guild.

Kenspeckle left the room, muttering some thing about 'doesn't understand science, at all. Why, maybe I could blow up him!'

"Who is going to be the distraction, China?" asked Ghastly.

"You and I shall be the distraction."

Ghastly nodded and left the room, saying he's 'going to prepare'.

"So, I'm guessing Skulduggery and I will be the muscle in this plan?" asked Guild. "Well, I'll be the muscle. Skulduggery can be…the…err."

"I'll be the brains, Thurid." Skulduggery inclined his head. Guild nodded and they both left, leaving Valkyrie and China.

China started tapping symbols and paced the room. She started chanting and, all of a sudden, beams of light exploded from her symbols. After the light faded, China sat back down looking slightly drained. It only took a few seconds, but she returned back to normal as soon as Valkyrie put her arm around her.

"What did you do, China? Protective barriers or something?"

China nodded and slowly got up. Before she could go, Valkyrie grabbed her arm.

"China. You haven't said where I am in this."

China nodded _again_ and Valkyrie understood. She let go of China and she left the room, as well. Valkyrie was left standing there, awkwardly. She put her hands in her pockets and walked to the edge of the room. She opened the door and looked back. She sighed. She wasn't coming back. She was going to confront Greffley and Xerok; probably, she wasn't coming back. _She_ was the one with the blood of the Ancients. _She_ was the one with a great, noble destiny. _She_ was the one who was going to get Fletcher and teleport out, with the others.

_She_ was the one Greffley wanted.

GREFFLEY'S HEADQUARTER'S

**END OF WEDNESDAY, 19****TH**** FEBRUARY 2011**

_Xerok stayed standing, when his Master left. He looked down at Fletcher with pity. He only had a day left. Just one day, until he would join the noble order of the vampires. He was going to be great, Xerok just _knew_ it. Another Teleporter was going to be a vampire._

_He leaned down and whispered into Fletcher's ear. "Just one more day, Fletcher. We both know it takes two days for an Infected to become a vampire. And there's not going to be any fancy heroics from your friends." He straightened up._

"_Just one more day, Fletcher Renn." Xerok walked off._

'_Just one more day, just one more day. The words rang in Fletcher's ears like the plague. They were there, but he didn't want them. One more day._

Author's note: Cliffhanger ending, I s'pose. Hope you liked it and stuff. Next chapter should be up early next week, or at the end of this week.

_Will Fletcher become a vampire? Or will he get saved? To be, or not to be? That is the question. Lol._


End file.
